Saturday, September 29, 2012

Railway exhibition gets off to steaming good start

An exhibition promoting
interest in the Corwen’s railway past and Llangollen Railway’s plans for the
railway extension project opened at the Oriel Gallery, London Road, Corwen last
Friday.

Entitled “Corwen – a Railway
Town”, the exhibition features railway photographs and documents, together with
items of former railway artefacts from the local lines around Corwen.

Another feature is a display
about the new build Patriot class locomotive “The Unknown Warrior”, as
currently being erected at the Llangollen Railway’s engineering base.

The exhibition is organised
by local author Paul Lawton and Martin Christie from Carrog station.

At the opening ceremony, Llangollen Railway Trust
chairman Jim Ritchie was joined by Martin Christie from Carrog station in lifting
the Welsh flag from the entrance photographic display.

Initial attendance was mainly by those who had
played a role in setting up the displays, but by lunchtime other visitors began
arriving to take in the exhibits and favourable comments were left by all of
them about the quality and content of the exhibition.

Of particular appeal is the digital slide show
comprising some 200 assorted views of Corwen and its railway over the past many
decades which comes with steam age sound track accompaniment.

It is a notable collection of images shown to
advantage through the modern medium of a large screen.

The display containing details of the Llangollen
Railway's track extension project was well received and many questions were
asked about progress and delivery of the trains back to the Corwen East station,
pending provision of the ultimate terminal station.

Chris Magner, from Bridgnorth, Shropshire, also
attended to launch his new book, “Ruabon to Barmouth - A Tribute to a Welsh West
Highland Line".

Opening
dates for the exhibition are September 28– 30 and October 4 – 7, between 10am and 4pm. Admission is
free.